Hamas announced Thursday that it was doing its utmost to help the Egyptian
authorities capture the terrorists who killed 16 Egyptian border guards in Sinai
on August 5.
The announcement came as Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
reported that Hamas security forces have rounded up a number of suspects
belonging to extremist Islamic groups in the context of efforts to solve the
case.
The statement also came amid reports that Hamas and the Egyptians
have formed a joint security committee to investigate the terrorist
attack.
“We are doing everything we can to help Egypt in gathering
information and carrying out other security measures to reveal the identity of
the perpetrators of the massacre,” said Ehab Ghissin, spokesman of the Hamas-run
Interior Ministry.
Coordination between Hamas and the Egyptian
authorities was taking place “on all levels” to solve the case and bring the
perpetrators to trial, he said.
Ghissin said that the coordination
between the two sides came after all investigations showed that the terrorists
did not come from the Gaza Strip.
A Hamas official claimed on Thursday
that Israel had warned the Egyptians about the Sinai attack 72 hours before it
took place. The official quoted Egyptian security sources as saying that Israel
rejected Egypt’s demand for additional details, including the identity of the
attackers and the group behind them.
The official also quoted the sources
as saying that investigations had thus far shown that the terrorists came from
Sinai and that no Palestinians were involved in the killing of the Egyptian
soldiers and the attempt to force the Israeli border at Kerem
Shalom.
Meanwhile, Hamas security forces have detained dozens of members
of radical Islamic groups in the Gaza Strip as part of the movement’s effort to
help the Egyptians lay their hands on the terrorists, sources in the Gaza Strip
said.
The clampdown is being carried out in coordination with Egyptian
intelligence officers who were sent to the Gaza Strip following the Sinai
attack, the sources added.